Rob Bollinger
Acrobatic Performance Designer
Rob Bollinger was a competitive trampolinist at the age of 9 and partnered with his father on the invention of the double mini trampoline as his family owned a trampoline club in Illinois, where he grew up. He studied Business at Indiana University on a scholarship as a competitive springboard diver. He won two national diving championships and qualified for the 1980 and 1984 Olympics trials. He did not make the team on either occasion, and at first turned away from the world of competitive sports. Rob tried his hand at a variety of jobs in aeronautics and insurance, but always found the pull of acrobatics too strong to resist, so he went to work in diving shows in theme parks, which led him all over Europe. On his return to the United States he put his talents as a diver and trampolinist to work in film and television as a professional stunt man, notably for Universal Studios. Rob joined Cirque du Soleil in 1993 during the creation of the first resident show Mystère as a coach and artist in the show’s original house troupe. In 1997 he joined "O", first as a coach, then as artistic coordinator and eventually he was appointed the production’s artistic director. He also added the artistic direction of Mystère to his responsibilities. This is Rob’s second show as Acrobatic Performance Designer after ZAIA.